Earlier this month, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting feedback from industry on ways to improve the sale of Cybersecurity and Information Assurance (CyberIA) products and services through GSA’s multi-billion dollar Information Technology (IT) Schedule 70. IT Schedule 70 currently features more than a dozen special item numbers (SINs) for cybersecurity
August 2015
DOD Issues Interim Rule Addressing New Requirements for Cyber Incidents and Cloud Computing Services
On August 26, 2015, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued an interim rule that imposes expanded obligations on defense contractors and subcontractors with regard to the protection of “covered defense information” and the reporting of cyber incidents occurring on unclassified information systems that contain such information. Nearly three years in the making, this interim rule replaces the…
Web Standards Group Releases Candidate Recommendation As Part of Broader “Do Not Track” Review
As part of its broader effort to develop a “Do Not Track” (DNT) web browser privacy standard, the World Wide Web Consortium (“W3C”), an international organization that develops Internet standards, recently released a draft of one technical component of the standard to gather implementation experience from the developer community.…
What’s Next for the SEC Pay-to-Play Rule Challenge?
Yesterday’s D.C. Circuit opinion upholding the SEC’s burdensome “pay-to-play” rule on procedural grounds is bad news for those questioning the rule’s constitutionality. Nevertheless, the rule is still far from invincible.
The SEC pay-to-play rule, among other things, effectively prohibits investment firm executives from making certain political contributions to state and local officeholders and candidates. Last…
A Closer Look At DOD’s Proposed Price Reasonableness Rule
The Department of Defense published a long awaited proposed rule on August 3, 2015, amending the DFARS to provide guidance for evaluating the reasonableness of prices using data other than certified cost or pricing data. The proposed rule falls short of its goal, instead increasing confusion in the determination of price reasonableness for commercial goods that…
SBA OHA: In Three-Factor Test to Determine Small Business Manufacturers, No Single Factor is Determinative
By Sandy Hoe & Dan Johnson
In Size Appeal of NMC/Wollard Inc., SBA No. SIZ-5668, the Small Business Administration Office of Hearings and Appeals (“OHA”) clarified the three factor test used to determine whether a small business qualifies as a manufacturer of the end item being procured. The decision confirmed that no single factor has greater weight than the others,…
Lock Down of Nuclear Site: False Alarm, with a Lesson Learned
Last week the Savannah River Site (“SRS”) in South Carolina, a large nuclear facility owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”), went into a lock down after electronic and canine scans of a commercial delivery truck attempting to enter the facility indicated possible explosive residue on the vehicle. Fortunately, the lock down was lifted…
Third Circuit Upholds FTC’s Data Security Authority in FTC v. Wyndham
By Caleb Skeath
The Third Circuit released its decision in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp. earlier today, affirming the district court’s decision that the FTC has the authority to regulate companies’ data security practices under the “unfair practices” prong of Section 5 of the FTC Act. The highly anticipated precedential opinion dismissed Wyndham’s arguments that the FTC lacks…
Updated DoD IG Guidance Signals New Enforcement Emphasis for DCAA Auditors
The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (“DoD IG”) appears poised to place new emphasis on the pursuit of fraud cases in certain key enforcement areas, at least according to updated agency guidance recently published online. Earlier this month, the DoD IG quietly revised its “Auditor Fraud Resources” page, intended to serve…
COFC: Contractor Stuck With Bill For Substantially Higher Than Expected Costs Under Firm-Fixed Price Requirements Contract
A recent Court of Federal Claims decision serves as a reminder to contractors of the perils of firm-fixed-price contracts in unpredictable environments.
The case, Agility Defense & Government Services, Inc. v. United States, involved an “unusually high-risk” firm-fixed-price requirements contract between Agility Defense & Government Services (“Agility”) and the Defense Reutilization Management Services (“DRMS”). …